Faster Fene (Marathi) review :
Tockk! goes the sound whenever he cracks a clue to his self driven investigation. From nabbing a petty thief to uncovering a big education scam, our teen detective always has the final say - the Tockk sound.
Marathi readers would need no introduction to BR Bhagwat's Faster Fene - aapla deshi Tintin - who rides his cycle as fast as he solves complicated cases. In this fantastic film adaptation, Banesh or Faster Fene travels to Pune to appear for his medical entrance exam. Befriending a fellow examinee, Fene is shocked to hear of his suicide a few hours later. Not possible, he suspects!!
Looking at the police apathy towards the case, Banesh decides to solve it himself and in the process, uncovers something much more devious than a plain murder.
Writer Kshitij Patwardhan and director Aditya Sarpotdar deserve a pat on their back for adapting the comic book character so efficiently on screen. Amey Wagh playing FaFe looks straight out of the pages of the original Marathi book as well as its English adaptation done by Anant Pai for Tinkle comics.
Coming to acting, Amey delivers a solid performance. Just an observation though - I found his mannerisms quite similar to Riteish Deshmukh (incidentally, the film's producer). Parna Pethe as Aboli, the young journalist who helps Fene, leaves an impression. The ever reliable Dilip Prabhavalkar plays writer BR Bhagwat himself, who gets inspired by watching Banesh in action. So in a way, this is an origin story. Great!
Expectedly, the best performance comes from Girish Kulkarni as Appa Andhaare, the main antagonist. Laughing menacingly while seamlessly oscillating between wry humour and downright evil in every sentence, Girish makes you loathe the villainous character he plays.
On the tech front, Milind Jog's cinematography captures Pune like never before. The pace is super fast not leaving you a minute to spare..back ground score by Troy - Arif elevates the thrilling narrative to an altogether different level.
To sum up, Marathi cinema hits another six with Faster Fene. This one goes right out of the ground. Tockk!
P.S. This film has English subtitles for those who don't understand Marathi. And for a change, the translation is thoughtfully done.
Ratings on some key aspects :
1. Acting: 4.5/5
2. Direction : 4/5
3. Music : 4/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 4.5/5
5. Cinematography : 4/5
6. Production Quality : 3.5/5
7. Action : 3.5/5
